M&A Success Story: Intelligent Observation

Having the right advisor at your side is essential to achieve an optimal M&A result. For Seth Freedman, CEO and founder of Intelligent Observation, having Corum as an M&A advisor was extremely important in allowing him to focus on running his business during the process. It also gave him a way to temporarily step back from the process and return in a better position for a highly successful exit.

Intelligent Observation is a Miami, Florida-based company that specializes in automated hand hygiene designed to help healthcare facilities reduce hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Their hardware detects when healthcare workers are near sanitation stations and records whether proper sanitization occurs. The data is transmitted to a cloud-based dashboard that compiles reports using SaaS and near-field magnetic induction (NFMI) technology.

Freedman, who had previously held leadership roles at several companies that provided healthcare-related products and services, founded Intelligent Observation in 2019.  The company had grown over time. However, it reached a point where a decision had to be made regarding the company's future. Freedman recalls, "We had grown the company for about six years. And because we were VC-backed, we were really at the proverbial fork in the road between either exiting the business or looking to raise additional funds and scale over the next three to five years. Ultimately, it was a decision between me and our board to go ahead and look at the M&A process avenue, which turned out to be perfect for us." With Corum assisting Freedman and his team through the M&A process, Intelligent Observation was acquired by HID Global Corporation, a manufacturer of secure identity products, in August 2025.

Freedom to run the business

Going through the M&A process can be time-consuming and work-intensive, something CEOs with no M&A experience may not be aware of. This is where an experienced M&A advisor like Corum can be particularly helpful. Freedman puts it this way:  "I think for CEOs looking to sell their company, making sure they're aligned with the proper company to help them through that process is extremely important. Running the business while you're exiting is really a unique challenge. And I think a lot of CEOs don't realize the amount of time it takes and the effort and the energy required to not only exit and to go through that M&A process, but to do that while you're running your existing business. I think just understanding that and aligning yourself with an organization that can really lead you through that in the smoothest possible way is really, really important.”

As Freedman's M&A advisor, Corum acted to minimize business disruption by conducting an extensive global search for buyers using the world’s largest buyer database, handling buyer inquiries, leading due diligence, and facilitating negotiations between the buyer and seller. Because Corum handled much of the heavy lifting in the M&A process, Freedman could focus on running his business day to day.

Taking a break in the process

Corum offers its clients a unique opportunity to pause their participation in the M&A process when conditions are not quite what they're looking for, and then return at a later time when conditions are more favorable. It's called the hiatus program. Taking a hiatus gives sellers time to address issues buyers identified during the M&A process ‒ issues that can stand in the way of securing an excellent offer. And that's the situation Freedman found himself in during his initial entry into the M&A market. “Initially, we had not really positioned the business properly," he says. "We had gone through a year of not only explosive growth, but it was accompanied by some churn in our business. And for us, it meant that if we wanted to maximize the value of our business, we needed to digest that churn and continue that growth curve. “

So Freedman decided to take advantage of the hiatus program. That decision was an excellent one for Freedman and Intelligent Observation. Thinking further about taking that action, Freedman notes, "When you make a decision to take a hiatus, I think it's actually the acknowledgement of where the market is and where your company is. When we reached a point where we knew the market was saying now is not the right time to be selling the business, given our current metrics, being able to go on to a program like the hiatus program allowed us to focus on growing the business and fulfilling the metrics that we needed. And when we came out of hiatus after one year, I think we just hit the ground running. We had all of the historical elements in place. The relationships were there. We could go back to the people that we talked to originally and say, hey, here's where the company is now. And I think that is just a fantastic part of the hiatus program."

What's next?

After HID Global acquired Intelligent Observation, Freedman continues to lead his team as they merge into HID's Real-Time Location System (RTLS) business unit. Looking ahead, Freedman is excited about his next challenge. He says one thing he knows for sure: "I'm not going to sit around at home, sleep in late, and watch Netflix all day."